What do high level U13 and older boys do in the summer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Recover by hitting the beach or the lake as much as possible. : ) When you aren't doing that...keep playing and training. Create or make your own leagues (a 7v7 league one small sided fields is great) or just play pick up with older kids. Get a small group of 4-6 kids at your level and do technical training. Strength train. Performance train. The grind doesn't stop!

The grind? These are 12 year olds. Their college and pro soccer career will not be influenced at all by what they do over the summer at this age.

wrong. It’s unfortunate but to get to a team that actually attracts college interest, its on the player. Pay to play gets you lazy coaches. Outside Training separates them. It’s what makes those kids standouts when they hit high school. Coaches of top teams don't want to work on basics. They want to improve soccer IQ and see execution.

Where are you getting outside training that isn’t pay to play?

Not this again. Why don't you all make your own thread where you can complain to your heart's content, with the Amen Choir" backing up, about the evil and unfair pay to play?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My rising U13 will be in camps this upcoming summer. Until he tells me enough is enough, it is the easiest decision I have.

I still see the older kids come to the morning sessions and then skip the afternoon.

The summer allows for so much freedom. You can get fast if you want to work in it. You can add a move or two.

What the heck is a “rising U13”? Guess not on the top team yet, not on a MLS Next HG team yet? Here this all the time but seriously don’t know what it means.

Current U12 on a Pre-MLS Next I first team. We are not playing during the summer so rising U13 during the summer.

We had our option of three top U12 teams with MLS Homegrown badges and the top U12 ECNL team.

Not sure why this matters on our summer plans but I hope that explains the level.

[Anonymous]

Take it easy. Do some non soccer camps. Go to some group trainings here and there. Play some USL-Y. Try to work on weaknesses and reinforce strengths. In the case of my soon to be U13, hopefully, see an increased desire to train on his own, ie. Juggling, wall work, YouTube videos, etc.

Personally, I'm not trying to grind him but that's more about where he is developmentally than what one "should" do.

[Anonymous]

Go on vacation like the people in the videos below. Talk about soccer as part of the culture...

(Sorry, I don't know how to embed videos)

https://www.tiktok.com/@pubitysport/video/7447840401081388320?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTbDdAdD87L/

[Anonymous]

Play pick up, go to the pool, hang out with friends, and recover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go on vacation like the people in the videos below. Talk about soccer as part of the culture...

(Sorry, I don't know how to embed videos)

https://www.tiktok.com/@pubitysport/video/7447840401081388320?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTbDdAdD87L/

We were fortunate to spend a lot of time at the beach a couple summers ago. Most days were we there, my son brought his soccer ball and kicked it around by himself up by the dunes (not allowed to do it near the shoreline). When we came home for school his calf muscles looked noticeably bigger to me and he has a great fall season that resulted in being moved up to the top team at his club. I really think all the time kicking the ball around helped, with the added challenge of doing it in the sand. I wish more kids played soccer outside and on the beach here. It seems like everyone just wants to throw a football or play baseball or lacrosse.

[Anonymous]

I posted above about how we were going to take it easy but there will certainly be some high level kids that will grind all summer long. They will train everyday (skills and strength), do Super Y, guest at summer tournaments, play year round futsal, regularly go to group trainings, see their personal trainer once a week. The entire summer will be dedicated to improving for the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I posted above about how we were going to take it easy but there will certainly be some high level kids that will grind all summer long. They will train everyday (skills and strength), do Super Y, guest at summer tournaments, play year round futsal, regularly go to group trainings, see their personal trainer once a week. The entire summer will be dedicated to improving for the fall.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I posted above about how we were going to take it easy but there will certainly be some high level kids that will grind all summer long. They will train everyday (skills and strength), do Super Y, guest at summer tournaments, play year round futsal, regularly go to group trainings, see their personal trainer once a week. The entire summer will be dedicated to improving for the fall.

I would not call it a grind and this is where the misconception comes in. The easiest way to manage a kid who wants to play alot it is through camps because they build friendships across the DMV and outside of club and it is very communal. My kid does not have a device or a video game console so his boredom is probably dumped into soccer. We have two vacations scheduled during the summer and we will go camping, to the beach, etc. But make no mistake, I have to plan around National Futsal Championships, Copa Talento, etc. and say no to other things that we will use as family weekends. I think people get in trouble saying yes to everything.

You're just going to know if you have a kid who playing all of the time is not a grind. It is quite irritating in all honesty. The ball is pounding something all of the time. We need to respect those families who have kids who want to play a lot and those who don't.

My child will get 30k touches a week during the summer while having fun. That is why they call it the Summer of Separation. He has leapfrogged kids every summer. If that is a grind to your kid, be grateful for learning that now, temper your expectations until they get joy from this quantity of play and enjoy the soccer journey wherever it may lead and find out what your kid is really passionate about. I imagine that are only a few who truly enjoy it like my son currently does and he and his play with his mates all summer and it is far from a grind for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted above about how we were going to take it easy but there will certainly be some high level kids that will grind all summer long. They will train everyday (skills and strength), do Super Y, guest at summer tournaments, play year round futsal, regularly go to group trainings, see their personal trainer once a week. The entire summer will be dedicated to improving for the fall.

I would not call it a grind and this is where the misconception comes in. The easiest way to manage a kid who wants to play alot it is through camps because they build friendships across the DMV and outside of club and it is very communal. My kid does not have a device or a video game console so his boredom is probably dumped into soccer. We have two vacations scheduled during the summer and we will go camping, to the beach, etc. But make no mistake, I have to plan around National Futsal Championships, Copa Talento, etc. and say no to other things that we will use as family weekends. I think people get in trouble saying yes to everything.

You're just going to know if you have a kid who playing all of the time is not a grind. It is quite irritating in all honesty. The ball is pounding something all of the time. We need to respect those families who have kids who want to play a lot and those who don't.

My child will get 30k touches a week during the summer while having fun. That is why they call it the Summer of Separation. He has leapfrogged kids every summer. If that is a grind to your kid, be grateful for learning that now, temper your expectations until they get joy from this quantity of play and enjoy the soccer journey wherever it may lead and find out what your kid is really passionate about. I imagine that are only a few who truly enjoy it like my son currently does and he and his play with his mates all summer and it is far from a grind for them.

I think we are having a problem with definitions/cultural references. "Grind" is a positive word for me. Meant no offense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I posted above about how we were going to take it easy but there will certainly be some high level kids that will grind all summer long. They will train everyday (skills and strength), do Super Y, guest at summer tournaments, play year round futsal, regularly go to group trainings, see their personal trainer once a week. The entire summer will be dedicated to improving for the fall.

I would not call it a grind and this is where the misconception comes in. The easiest way to manage a kid who wants to play alot it is through camps because they build friendships across the DMV and outside of club and it is very communal. My kid does not have a device or a video game console so his boredom is probably dumped into soccer. We have two vacations scheduled during the summer and we will go camping, to the beach, etc. But make no mistake, I have to plan around National Futsal Championships, Copa Talento, etc. and say no to other things that we will use as family weekends. I think people get in trouble saying yes to everything.

You're just going to know if you have a kid who playing all of the time is not a grind. It is quite irritating in all honesty. The ball is pounding something all of the time. We need to respect those families who have kids who want to play a lot and those who don't.

My child will get 30k touches a week during the summer while having fun. That is why they call it the Summer of Separation. He has leapfrogged kids every summer. If that is a grind to your kid, be grateful for learning that now, temper your expectations until they get joy from this quantity of play and enjoy the soccer journey wherever it may lead and find out what your kid is really passionate about. I imagine that are only a few who truly enjoy it like my son currently does and he and his play with his mates all summer and it is far from a grind for them.

Yep, and this is where the separation begins at the top player level too. There is the physical and maturity changes for sure, but the “grind” that the top dedicated players are willingly involved with certainly will benefit them on the pitch and the tryouts. True in all sports, not unique to soccer.

[Anonymous]

OP. Thanks for the helpful replies!

Less thanks to all the people who flew into a rage about kids wanting to play soccer in the summer! 😂

If you have a kid who likes to play and is good at it, they enjoy playing with players at their skill level and they go crazy if they don’t touch a ball for a day, much less months. In our experience, there are good camps up until u13 and usually the kids will just do a few camps with friends or guys from their team. We haven’t seen as many older guys at camps and much less of the high level players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP. Thanks for the helpful replies!

Less thanks to all the people who flew into a rage about kids wanting to play soccer in the summer! 😂

If you have a kid who likes to play and is good at it, they enjoy playing with players at their skill level and they go crazy if they don’t touch a ball for a day, much less months. In our experience, there are good camps up until u13 and usually the kids will just do a few camps with friends or guys from their team. We haven’t seen as many older guys at camps and much less of the high level players.

1/2 day, group, etc. I know I have a lot of the top 2013-2011 in the area at the morning camp sessions. The older kids so typically leave at noon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP. Thanks for the helpful replies!

Less thanks to all the people who flew into a rage about kids wanting to play soccer in the summer! 😂

If you have a kid who likes to play and is good at it, they enjoy playing with players at their skill level and they go crazy if they don’t touch a ball for a day, much less months. In our experience, there are good camps up until u13 and usually the kids will just do a few camps with friends or guys from their team. We haven’t seen as many older guys at camps and much less of the high level players.

1/2 day, group, etc. I know I have a lot of the top 2013-2011 in the area at the morning camp sessions. The older kids so typically leave at noon.

Which camp(s) are you referring to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not usl-y

Try to get on a copa talento team and play the richmond, delaware and nyc events

This